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Description

EP: 5 (art) + 6 (RP) = 12 EP to Andro!

This RP ended a while ago, but it was never actually uploaded. A RP between Andromeda (OneLifeRemaining ) and Soren (Rininiri ).

Art replay: colorslive.com/details/2359686

Summary:
Andromeda, Silver Gladiator of Fire Empire, is making her return to her empire after months of capture. The first empiremate she longs to see is her leader, Soren. Sure enough, he is the first one she finds, and the both of them come to realize how much the other means to them.

Time: Last week of April 48 BC (Although we RPed this before we realized it was spring time, so in the RP it's winter. Very winter.)

Leaf bare trees scratched at a late morning sky. The scarce clouds moving nonchalantly though the blue expanse above did no good job of holding any heat near to the earth, for the ground was frozen and the undergrowth frosted. A large female snow leopard padded through the forest in this frozen land, eyes narrowed in determination. The long road home for her had not been easy. Her wounds needed tending to, and she had not eaten in days. Had her excitement and resolve to return to her empire not been so strong, she may have been limping from a claw, torn out from the perilous dash across what was known as the "dead zone". From there she had rested in Shadow Empire's territory and began her journey to her own land the next morning. She had not stopped since, even after crossing the border into Fire Empire's territory. She was so intent on being home. Seeing how things were with everyone. Was everyone okay? How was Garan? How was Soren? Were they all still waiting for her return? Or had they all given up hope? Did they think she had abandoned them? Her stomach twisted at the thought of being accused of being a deserter. But her love for her Fire Empire family drove her on. With them, that was where she belonged.

Still though, she paused to leap up a large rock, and looked out. From here she could just see the barrier of camp. The first cat she wanted to see was her leader, Soren. During her time away, the snow leopard silver gladiator had come to realize how much he meant to her. He was her best friend. Her breath billowed in the cool air. It was good to be home. But would everyone still let her call it home?

In the late frozen world of winter, it was rare to hear a bird’s pure song of bliss sweep through the thin air. Green and lush plant life was as far from the mind as a long forgotten dream. The sky was the richest blue nature could procure, and the ground was cold to the soft pads of the strong-legged lynx’s paws.

Soft as a feather, bare fur brushed softly through dead foliage, weaving carefully and with a learned grace, yet deadly elegance that was borne into the felines mind and body from birth, and the ‘rebirth’ that came with the wonders of true, wild, freedom. Half exposed claws brushed lightly against the stiff grass and child dirt, scrapping ever so faintly, tiny ruts in the wake of his passing.

Brilliant blue eyes focused on his path, but saw nothing. Tufted ears stood alert, but they brought no thoughts of surrounding to his mind, flicking absently at the tiny sounds around him. Old scars of battles long past throbbed dully in the seasonal weather, but going unnoticed by the mentally absent Leader as he weaved his way through his land. This land; the territory he loved and cherished, that gave life to his Empire and his son, the land that he protected with his body, his heart, his mind, and his soul.

A brief pause, large pads resting heavily on the edge of a frozen over creek and eyes locking on the single moment of motion, frozen in time by the sheer cold.

'I can relate to this.' Soren thought suddenly, his waves of thoughts solidifying into a narrow, concentrated stream.

'I’m like the water. I’m frozen in place, caught in my surroundings without the flames I once held dear to free me.' As he watched, this rather morbid thought cascading over him like a heavy rain, a tiny mouse, unaware of his presence due to his inactivity, warily skittered over to the frozen creek. With an ease that surprised even the large lynx, it used its tiny hands to shove a hole into the thinnest sheet of ice, releasing the natural spring from its imprisonment, allowing the mouse to swiftly lap up the cold water.

Even as life continues on around it, it provides what’s necessary without truly being freed.

This thought wasn’t thought in a morbid or sad sense, his mind whirling into an almost distant observation of life. It was true though, what he felt. His first love being taken from him repeatedly, their lives doomed to be forever split, as well as their family. The consequences were already paid for that, but as he continued to observe his existence, determination keeping his spark lit, things continued to be stolen from him.

Nedria, he could be blamed for losing. They both had their share of reasons to love and to lose each other, knowing their duties as leaders and the limitations and rules that came with them. But his second, the one he had only just become aware of in a sense far more special than a close friend; left on her own, partaking in a self-given mission to extinguish the last dregs of her past life to solidify her existence within their Empire. He knew why she had left, and he had even given her his blessings and wished for her safe return. While he didn’t approve of it, he understood completely.

But she had been taken from him too. It had been far too long since she had set out- too much time had passed. Even her Empire mates, whom had sworn their loyalty to him and his Silver Gladiator, had begun to question. They of course didn’t know, and he wouldn’t reveal the true reasons behind her leaving unless he had no other choice, however; there were times where he had to defuse an argument every now and then. Accusations of betrayal versus trust, friendship, and loyalty.

Claws tightened, cracking the edges of the frozen stream and startling the mouse into a frantic scramble, darting hastily out of sight with a squeak. Rivulets of water surged out of the new break in the ice, letting tiny streams of water to roll down the slight incline before it could freeze again.

His fire lived, under the surface and beneath the cold shell he felt around his heart.

Fur bristled slightly as heavy shoulders shook, freeing both his mind and body from the chill that had begun to form. These solitary patrols and walks were what kept him sane most days. He loved his Empire, and would continue to work until he died to keep it safe- but he had been alone all his life. Raised to kill. Social settings tended to rub his fur the wrong way should they last too long. He supposed that’s why many of the apprentices and younger gladiators assumed him scary or intimidating. He’d even heard a rumor from the younger cubs that he was actually a ghost in a Lynxes pelt. A little warmth curled inside him, remembering one of the stories they had spun to each other about Soren himself and Ignis, the God they believed in, were one in the same.

The motion of movement continued, a rekindled spark of determination desperately taking seed in hopes of hiding that of cold loneliness, being unable to warm it. He would return to his Empire. He would ensure they would be fine, and do what he could to promise them a better future. He missed Andromeda sorely, and Nedria was a cracked and broken statue of pain forced into the core of his being, but he would not let himself be haunted by it. The Fire of the Forest deserved better than a heartsick old lynx.

Crackling branches brushed past, frost encrusting them and flicking his whiskers lightly, cold sunlight beaming down from between the bare fingers of outstretched trees, a light fog kicking up as the sun reached its peak.

It was then, that the battle worn and scar torn tom found a shock- a question of his sanity. Vibrant blue hues focusing with pinpoint clarity on the form that stood on a small ridge just before Fire Empires camp, back turned to him. Caked with frozen mud and what looked like blood, he swore to all the Gods in the sky that he must be seeing ghosts. With another inner surprise, he realized he hadn’t expected to see her alive again. Not out of lack of faith in her, but sheer pessimism and the worried paranoia that came from considering someone a part of your family, whether you realize it or not.

A single word slipped from his marred muzzle, ears flicked forward in utter concentration, paws spread wide as though a blow that would attempt to knock him to the ground were coming, fast and hard. A single bird, lonely in this cold forest, began to twitter out a single song

“Andromeda?”

'I'm not going to see him from here.' Andromeda realized with disappointment as she gazed down at the empty camp below. No one wanted to hang out in the cold where they could be seen. Just as she was about to back down from the ridge and continue her trek down into the camp, a single word- nay, a name- broke the frosty silence in the forest like a stream in early spring being released from its frozen imprisonment.

“Andromeda?”

Her entire body tensed as she froze. That voice. She knew that voice. But for some reason, she was afraid to turn and see him. Was he really there? Or was it a figment of her imagination, created by her mind to satisfy her longing and erase her disappointment? But this time, it was more likely not to be some mirage, and so the snow leopardess forced herself to turn to see the speaker, her muscles ridged as if she had not moved in hours. The plates of her dirtied armor clanked as she moved.

There he was. Her leader. Her everything. He stood in shock with muscles just as ridged as hers, as if prepared for something unexpected to sweep him off his paws. But he had recognized her. A wave of emotion swept over the snow leopardess. She tried to say his name, but it came out only as a breathed whisper.

"Soren..."

Her eyes locked on him, and she leaped from her perch to begin to run toward him, trying to hold back tears of joy.

All thoughts stopped. Everything that churned his desperation, his sadness, his fear. His unyielding determination that was hemmed by the burning embers of doubt and darkness. The steel hard sharpness of his regret and the fathomless depths of despair that threatened to engulf his being every time he allowed his mind to wander- it all stopped. It froze in its tracks like a wet deer caught in a blizzard, staggering to a halt with the rigged flex and snap of ice.

Blazing ice blue eyes locked on to the bloodied and dirtied armor of the snow leopardess, what little fur that showed was coated in a layer of grime that showed she had not bathed properly in days, if not weeks. But her muscles showed through with the same powerful rippled they always had, challenging he alone for the strength of their size class. He felt a wave of emotion surge through his pelt, an electric jolt that forced him into motion even as he heard his whispered name on the wind, her stiffened gaze meeting his for what seemed both too long, and far too short.

Before he knew it, his claws dug into the frozen ground with a violent kind of desperation, heavy paws thudding on the grass as though hell hounds themselves were chasing his tail. Too far of a distance, and yet again, too short of one. The moments between their gazes meeting felt so bizarre yet electrifying- his heart beat with the sound of a hundred drums and he realized in some part of himself just how much Andromeda meant to him.

They met in a tangled but careful clash, he instinctively and habitually avoiding the spikes and sharp edges of her armor while simultaneously curling his head around her neck, pressing his nose into her fur, and feeling the wild exhilaration of reunion that burned in both their bodies. Friends that had come together far before the knowledge of freedom and independence, in the times of sorrow and pain- forced apart too many times and given so few moments to share.

He feared to break the joyful silence, thinking for just a moment that this was all some cruel joke of his aging mind and broken heart. Vibrant ice blue eyes closed, senses enveloping her scent, dirt and blood coated though it was. It was true. It was real. She was real.

“I thought I’d never see you again.” He murmured quietly, moving his head back only slightly, their noses only an inch apart, his eyes gazing into hers with the roaring blaze of a flame rekindled, the depths of his relief and happiness overwhelming him- something he had never experienced, nor knew how to deal with. Perhaps she saw a bit of what he felt there, in that moment.

And in that moment, he realized; as much as he loved Nedria and their cubs- with the shattered remnants of their relationship clawing the center of his being even now, and whenever he saw her at Gatherings… He would be able to move on eventually, if he had the right cats beside him in his home. And now he did.

It seemed all too good to be true. Him. Her. The same place. Or had she truly gone crazy? Was she still dreaming? In reality, was she still locked in her prison in Massilia? It must be so, for as the felines dashed to close their distance, it seemed almost too long of a run than it should have been, as in a dream when one runs with all their might only to find themselves going backwards.

But then, they met together, a desperate but beautiful collision, and the snow leopard knew she was not imagining this. The vibrancy of his eyes...they were so much brighter, so much more real than they were when she saw him in her dreams. She pushed her nose into the lynx's neck fur, and inhaled deeply. His sweet scent flooded her entire being, joy and excitement like electricity and fire burning through her, igniting her spirit and giving her strength and hope she had not felt since before she had left. She opened her maw to speak, but he spoke the words first.

“I thought I’d never see you again." He murmured, and brought his head back so their noses were almost touching.

"As I you," Andromeda breathed in reply. "It's been far too long, dear friend."

She gazed back into his eyes, her heart fluttering like a giant bird taking graceful flight, and for a moment she thought she spied some of her own feelings dancing in those eyes of the auburn lynx.

But...wait, had she been sure she had seen it? Or was it her mind, again telling her eyes what they wanted to see? When she had departed, the two felines had only platonic love for one another...although if you asked anyone in the Empire who had seen them taking care of Garan before Andromeda had left, they might say otherwise. He was her leader, she was his silver. It had never truly been anything more. Why...HOW could it have changed now? Of course, it had taken her to be away from him, in the very depths of hell for HER to realize where and with whom her heart lie. But Soren- Andromeda thought back to a time in the past when he had told her about his relationship with the Ice Empire leader- he had Nedria. Nedria had him. And sure, their relationship had ended because of their empire loyalties. But that didn't mean that a bond so strong could be broken so easily by distance and despair...Andromeda herself had learned that much.

Surely, he did not love her the same way he loved or had loved Nedria. Andromeda forced herself to believe that the emotion that danced in his eyes must only be the joy of one friend once again reuniting with another friend... Andromeda could not bear to let her hopes and emotions swell to some dangerous point where they could fall and shatter once again. He was her leader, and she was only his silver. It couldn't possibly be anything more than that... Right? But even this almost saddening mental decision could not dampen the snow leopard's happiness in that moment. She savored the closeness of his warmth, and let her blue eyes- brighter now than they had been before- to slide over his pelt.

His fur was so much softer and sleek looking than she remembered any fur ever being...especially her own, she realized with embarrassment. Why hadn't she thought to pause to wash before returning? This was no state for her leader to see her in... And thus another reason Andromeda doubted what she had seen in his eyes had truly been there. Of course he had recognized her beneath all this filth, and apparently he didn't care about it at the moment but... The snow leopard couldn't help but feel a little self-conscious. It was a less-than-glorious way to return after so long.

But even so, she could not bring herself to pull away from him as her mind screamed for her to do, as if her mind and body were separate beings struggling against one another. 'He's you're leader...! But I love him! Leader ONLY! No! Don't just stand - stop this...! I can't-...fraternization - Nedria!' The silver pinned her ears in an attempt to shut up the voices of her instincts in her mind. The soft voices of her heart were overpowering those of her head.

What if, if she backed away now, they were separated again and she would never again be this close to him? She likely wouldn't be, if she was right in assuming he did not feel as strongly for her...as she did for him. But she had to know. She gazed into his eyes again, searching the blue depths for the spark she could have sworn she'd seen dancing there.

"I've really missed you..."

Description

EP: 5 (art) + 6 (RP) = 12 EP to Andro!

This RP ended a while ago, but it was never actually uploaded. A RP between Andromeda (OneLifeRemaining ) and Soren (Rininiri ).

Art replay: colorslive.com/details/2359686

Summary:
Andromeda, Silver Gladiator of Fire Empire, is making her return to her empire after months of capture. The first empiremate she longs to see is her leader, Soren. Sure enough, he is the first one she finds, and the both of them come to realize how much the other means to them.

Time: Last week of April 48 BC (Although we RPed this before we realized it was spring time, so in the RP it's winter. Very winter.)

Leaf bare trees scratched at a late morning sky. The scarce clouds moving nonchalantly though the blue expanse above did no good job of holding any heat near to the earth, for the ground was frozen and the undergrowth frosted. A large female snow leopard padded through the forest in this frozen land, eyes narrowed in determination. The long road home for her had not been easy. Her wounds needed tending to, and she had not eaten in days. Had her excitement and resolve to return to her empire not been so strong, she may have been limping from a claw, torn out from the perilous dash across what was known as the "dead zone". From there she had rested in Shadow Empire's territory and began her journey to her own land the next morning. She had not stopped since, even after crossing the border into Fire Empire's territory. She was so intent on being home. Seeing how things were with everyone. Was everyone okay? How was Garan? How was Soren? Were they all still waiting for her return? Or had they all given up hope? Did they think she had abandoned them? Her stomach twisted at the thought of being accused of being a deserter. But her love for her Fire Empire family drove her on. With them, that was where she belonged.

Still though, she paused to leap up a large rock, and looked out. From here she could just see the barrier of camp. The first cat she wanted to see was her leader, Soren. During her time away, the snow leopard silver gladiator had come to realize how much he meant to her. He was her best friend. Her breath billowed in the cool air. It was good to be home. But would everyone still let her call it home?

In the late frozen world of winter, it was rare to hear a bird’s pure song of bliss sweep through the thin air. Green and lush plant life was as far from the mind as a long forgotten dream. The sky was the richest blue nature could procure, and the ground was cold to the soft pads of the strong-legged lynx’s paws.

Soft as a feather, bare fur brushed softly through dead foliage, weaving carefully and with a learned grace, yet deadly elegance that was borne into the felines mind and body from birth, and the ‘rebirth’ that came with the wonders of true, wild, freedom. Half exposed claws brushed lightly against the stiff grass and child dirt, scrapping ever so faintly, tiny ruts in the wake of his passing.

Brilliant blue eyes focused on his path, but saw nothing. Tufted ears stood alert, but they brought no thoughts of surrounding to his mind, flicking absently at the tiny sounds around him. Old scars of battles long past throbbed dully in the seasonal weather, but going unnoticed by the mentally absent Leader as he weaved his way through his land. This land; the territory he loved and cherished, that gave life to his Empire and his son, the land that he protected with his body, his heart, his mind, and his soul.

A brief pause, large pads resting heavily on the edge of a frozen over creek and eyes locking on the single moment of motion, frozen in time by the sheer cold.

'I can relate to this.' Soren thought suddenly, his waves of thoughts solidifying into a narrow, concentrated stream.

'I’m like the water. I’m frozen in place, caught in my surroundings without the flames I once held dear to free me.' As he watched, this rather morbid thought cascading over him like a heavy rain, a tiny mouse, unaware of his presence due to his inactivity, warily skittered over to the frozen creek. With an ease that surprised even the large lynx, it used its tiny hands to shove a hole into the thinnest sheet of ice, releasing the natural spring from its imprisonment, allowing the mouse to swiftly lap up the cold water.

Even as life continues on around it, it provides what’s necessary without truly being freed.

This thought wasn’t thought in a morbid or sad sense, his mind whirling into an almost distant observation of life. It was true though, what he felt. His first love being taken from him repeatedly, their lives doomed to be forever split, as well as their family. The consequences were already paid for that, but as he continued to observe his existence, determination keeping his spark lit, things continued to be stolen from him.

Nedria, he could be blamed for losing. They both had their share of reasons to love and to lose each other, knowing their duties as leaders and the limitations and rules that came with them. But his second, the one he had only just become aware of in a sense far more special than a close friend; left on her own, partaking in a self-given mission to extinguish the last dregs of her past life to solidify her existence within their Empire. He knew why she had left, and he had even given her his blessings and wished for her safe return. While he didn’t approve of it, he understood completely.

But she had been taken from him too. It had been far too long since she had set out- too much time had passed. Even her Empire mates, whom had sworn their loyalty to him and his Silver Gladiator, had begun to question. They of course didn’t know, and he wouldn’t reveal the true reasons behind her leaving unless he had no other choice, however; there were times where he had to defuse an argument every now and then. Accusations of betrayal versus trust, friendship, and loyalty.

Claws tightened, cracking the edges of the frozen stream and startling the mouse into a frantic scramble, darting hastily out of sight with a squeak. Rivulets of water surged out of the new break in the ice, letting tiny streams of water to roll down the slight incline before it could freeze again.

His fire lived, under the surface and beneath the cold shell he felt around his heart.

Fur bristled slightly as heavy shoulders shook, freeing both his mind and body from the chill that had begun to form. These solitary patrols and walks were what kept him sane most days. He loved his Empire, and would continue to work until he died to keep it safe- but he had been alone all his life. Raised to kill. Social settings tended to rub his fur the wrong way should they last too long. He supposed that’s why many of the apprentices and younger gladiators assumed him scary or intimidating. He’d even heard a rumor from the younger cubs that he was actually a ghost in a Lynxes pelt. A little warmth curled inside him, remembering one of the stories they had spun to each other about Soren himself and Ignis, the God they believed in, were one in the same.

The motion of movement continued, a rekindled spark of determination desperately taking seed in hopes of hiding that of cold loneliness, being unable to warm it. He would return to his Empire. He would ensure they would be fine, and do what he could to promise them a better future. He missed Andromeda sorely, and Nedria was a cracked and broken statue of pain forced into the core of his being, but he would not let himself be haunted by it. The Fire of the Forest deserved better than a heartsick old lynx.

Crackling branches brushed past, frost encrusting them and flicking his whiskers lightly, cold sunlight beaming down from between the bare fingers of outstretched trees, a light fog kicking up as the sun reached its peak.

It was then, that the battle worn and scar torn tom found a shock- a question of his sanity. Vibrant blue hues focusing with pinpoint clarity on the form that stood on a small ridge just before Fire Empires camp, back turned to him. Caked with frozen mud and what looked like blood, he swore to all the Gods in the sky that he must be seeing ghosts. With another inner surprise, he realized he hadn’t expected to see her alive again. Not out of lack of faith in her, but sheer pessimism and the worried paranoia that came from considering someone a part of your family, whether you realize it or not.

A single word slipped from his marred muzzle, ears flicked forward in utter concentration, paws spread wide as though a blow that would attempt to knock him to the ground were coming, fast and hard. A single bird, lonely in this cold forest, began to twitter out a single song

“Andromeda?”

'I'm not going to see him from here.' Andromeda realized with disappointment as she gazed down at the empty camp below. No one wanted to hang out in the cold where they could be seen. Just as she was about to back down from the ridge and continue her trek down into the camp, a single word- nay, a name- broke the frosty silence in the forest like a stream in early spring being released from its frozen imprisonment.

“Andromeda?”

Her entire body tensed as she froze. That voice. She knew that voice. But for some reason, she was afraid to turn and see him. Was he really there? Or was it a figment of her imagination, created by her mind to satisfy her longing and erase her disappointment? But this time, it was more likely not to be some mirage, and so the snow leopardess forced herself to turn to see the speaker, her muscles ridged as if she had not moved in hours. The plates of her dirtied armor clanked as she moved.

There he was. Her leader. Her everything. He stood in shock with muscles just as ridged as hers, as if prepared for something unexpected to sweep him off his paws. But he had recognized her. A wave of emotion swept over the snow leopardess. She tried to say his name, but it came out only as a breathed whisper.

"Soren..."

Her eyes locked on him, and she leaped from her perch to begin to run toward him, trying to hold back tears of joy.

All thoughts stopped. Everything that churned his desperation, his sadness, his fear. His unyielding determination that was hemmed by the burning embers of doubt and darkness. The steel hard sharpness of his regret and the fathomless depths of despair that threatened to engulf his being every time he allowed his mind to wander- it all stopped. It froze in its tracks like a wet deer caught in a blizzard, staggering to a halt with the rigged flex and snap of ice.

Blazing ice blue eyes locked on to the bloodied and dirtied armor of the snow leopardess, what little fur that showed was coated in a layer of grime that showed she had not bathed properly in days, if not weeks. But her muscles showed through with the same powerful rippled they always had, challenging he alone for the strength of their size class. He felt a wave of emotion surge through his pelt, an electric jolt that forced him into motion even as he heard his whispered name on the wind, her stiffened gaze meeting his for what seemed both too long, and far too short.

Before he knew it, his claws dug into the frozen ground with a violent kind of desperation, heavy paws thudding on the grass as though hell hounds themselves were chasing his tail. Too far of a distance, and yet again, too short of one. The moments between their gazes meeting felt so bizarre yet electrifying- his heart beat with the sound of a hundred drums and he realized in some part of himself just how much Andromeda meant to him.

They met in a tangled but careful clash, he instinctively and habitually avoiding the spikes and sharp edges of her armor while simultaneously curling his head around her neck, pressing his nose into her fur, and feeling the wild exhilaration of reunion that burned in both their bodies. Friends that had come together far before the knowledge of freedom and independence, in the times of sorrow and pain- forced apart too many times and given so few moments to share.

He feared to break the joyful silence, thinking for just a moment that this was all some cruel joke of his aging mind and broken heart. Vibrant ice blue eyes closed, senses enveloping her scent, dirt and blood coated though it was. It was true. It was real. She was real.

“I thought I’d never see you again.” He murmured quietly, moving his head back only slightly, their noses only an inch apart, his eyes gazing into hers with the roaring blaze of a flame rekindled, the depths of his relief and happiness overwhelming him- something he had never experienced, nor knew how to deal with. Perhaps she saw a bit of what he felt there, in that moment.

And in that moment, he realized; as much as he loved Nedria and their cubs- with the shattered remnants of their relationship clawing the center of his being even now, and whenever he saw her at Gatherings… He would be able to move on eventually, if he had the right cats beside him in his home. And now he did.

It seemed all too good to be true. Him. Her. The same place. Or had she truly gone crazy? Was she still dreaming? In reality, was she still locked in her prison in Massilia? It must be so, for as the felines dashed to close their distance, it seemed almost too long of a run than it should have been, as in a dream when one runs with all their might only to find themselves going backwards.

But then, they met together, a desperate but beautiful collision, and the snow leopard knew she was not imagining this. The vibrancy of his eyes...they were so much brighter, so much more real than they were when she saw him in her dreams. She pushed her nose into the lynx's neck fur, and inhaled deeply. His sweet scent flooded her entire being, joy and excitement like electricity and fire burning through her, igniting her spirit and giving her strength and hope she had not felt since before she had left. She opened her maw to speak, but he spoke the words first.

“I thought I’d never see you again." He murmured, and brought his head back so their noses were almost touching.

"As I you," Andromeda breathed in reply. "It's been far too long, dear friend."

She gazed back into his eyes, her heart fluttering like a giant bird taking graceful flight, and for a moment she thought she spied some of her own feelings dancing in those eyes of the auburn lynx.

But...wait, had she been sure she had seen it? Or was it her mind, again telling her eyes what they wanted to see? When she had departed, the two felines had only platonic love for one another...although if you asked anyone in the Empire who had seen them taking care of Garan before Andromeda had left, they might say otherwise. He was her leader, she was his silver. It had never truly been anything more. Why...HOW could it have changed now? Of course, it had taken her to be away from him, in the very depths of hell for HER to realize where and with whom her heart lie. But Soren- Andromeda thought back to a time in the past when he had told her about his relationship with the Ice Empire leader- he had Nedria. Nedria had him. And sure, their relationship had ended because of their empire loyalties. But that didn't mean that a bond so strong could be broken so easily by distance and despair...Andromeda herself had learned that much.

Surely, he did not love her the same way he loved or had loved Nedria. Andromeda forced herself to believe that the emotion that danced in his eyes must only be the joy of one friend once again reuniting with another friend... Andromeda could not bear to let her hopes and emotions swell to some dangerous point where they could fall and shatter once again. He was her leader, and she was only his silver. It couldn't possibly be anything more than that... Right? But even this almost saddening mental decision could not dampen the snow leopard's happiness in that moment. She savored the closeness of his warmth, and let her blue eyes- brighter now than they had been before- to slide over his pelt.

His fur was so much softer and sleek looking than she remembered any fur ever being...especially her own, she realized with embarrassment. Why hadn't she thought to pause to wash before returning? This was no state for her leader to see her in... And thus another reason Andromeda doubted what she had seen in his eyes had truly been there. Of course he had recognized her beneath all this filth, and apparently he didn't care about it at the moment but... The snow leopard couldn't help but feel a little self-conscious. It was a less-than-glorious way to return after so long.

But even so, she could not bring herself to pull away from him as her mind screamed for her to do, as if her mind and body were separate beings struggling against one another. 'He's you're leader...! But I love him! Leader ONLY! No! Don't just stand - stop this...! I can't-...fraternization - Nedria!' The silver pinned her ears in an attempt to shut up the voices of her instincts in her mind. The soft voices of her heart were overpowering those of her head.

What if, if she backed away now, they were separated again and she would never again be this close to him? She likely wouldn't be, if she was right in assuming he did not feel as strongly for her...as she did for him. But she had to know. She gazed into his eyes again, searching the blue depths for the spark she could have sworn she'd seen dancing there.

"I've really missed you..."